Age and Forgetfulness: Can Stereotypes Be Modified?

Abstract Ninety young and 73 older perceivers read an interview script with a forgetful young target or a forgetful old target . Then perceivers rated their opinion of the target's memory and also the extent to which they would attribute the target's memory failures to lack of ability and to lack of effort . Prior to reading the script , one third of the perceivers read an article stating that memory declines with age , one third read an article stating that memory stays constant with age , and one third read no article . Young perceivers who read the memory decline article attributed memory failures to lack of ability more for the old than for the young target . This result suggests that the stereotype held by young perceivers about memory and age can be modified by exposure to written information .